


Darcy's Dinosaurs

by Stella_Malodi



Series: Silly Words for the Silly Soul(mate fic) [22]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Incredible Hulk - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Awesome Darcy Lewis, BAMF Darcy Lewis, Capture, Clint Barton Is a Good Bro, Darcy Lewis's iPod, Darcy is the Oprah of Inflatable Dinosaurs, F/M, Gen, Platonic Soulmates, Pride and Prejudice References, Romantic Soulmates, SHIP DARCY WITH ALL THE THINGS, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-30
Updated: 2016-04-27
Packaged: 2018-05-30 03:54:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6407713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stella_Malodi/pseuds/Stella_Malodi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Or: In Which Darcy Has One Soulmark And Many Soulmates</p><hr/><p>“I always give my dinosaurs to people who say my Words, even when I don’t say theirs back. It’s sort of a tradition. This one is named Emma.”</p><p>“Emma? Like Emma Watson?”</p><p>“No, like Emma Woodhouse, the Austen heroine.”</p><p>Clint paused for a long moment, and when he spoke, there was an odd note in his voice. “The Gwyneth Paltrow one? With the bow and arrow?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Charles and Emma

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NuttyDounuts14](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NuttyDounuts14/gifts).



> This one was a prompt from NuttyDounuts14: “Why are you holding an inflatable dinosaur?”  
> We had _so_ much fun with it. As soon as we got it, we started bouncing possible replies, and they were all awesome. So, we decided, why limit ourselves to just one? (This is the point where I took over and wrote basically all of it, which is why CatrinaSL isn't listed as a co-author. But she was there for All of the Planning, helped any time I got stuck, and was generally completely awesome.)  
>  Important: this Soulmate AU is a _little_ bit different from the others I've written. It's still a first words tattoo thing, and it's still got the 'don't talk about your words' taboo, but in this one there are Romantic and Platonic Soulmates. There are a few other things, but they're explained in-fic.  
>  Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it!

Darcy’s Soulmark was a bit… unusual. Not the words themselves—though those were certainly odd, too—but the actual 'Mark. Her words were written in the silver of a Romantic Soulmark, but they were outlined in the gold of a Platonic Soulmark. Which… made no sense. Her best guess was that her Soulmate was Ace, but since she _wasn’t_ , that… seemed like poor planning on fate’s part.

 

* * *

 

The first time someone said Darcy’s words, she was eight years old.

The first time _Darcy_ said someone _else’s_ words in response, she was twenty-four.

 

* * *

 

Darcy navigated the airport without much trouble, but she almost didn’t see her ride. In fact she _didn’t_ see her ride; she texted the woman she was supposed to be interning with, and followed the sound when she heard, “Jane, someone's texting you... _again,_ ” coming from nearby.

A small woman wearing plaid, who had been scribbling on the back of a large piece of cardstock, stuck her pencil into her hair, and started rummaging through her purse. The sign slid from the woman’s lap and came to a stop at Darcy’s feet.

“Darcy Lewis” was spelled out in large letters, but it was surrounded—now—by complex equations. Darcy rolled her eyes, picked it up, and took the few remaining steps to the woman, who she assumed was Doctor Foster.

Darcy shoved the sign at the other woman, whose eyes darted between the poster and Darcy before settling on Darcy’s arms.

“Why are you holding an inflatable dinosaur?” she asked.

“He’s my best friend,” Darcy replied. “Go ahead and judge us if you want; we’re used to prejudice against human/lizard relationships.”

Doctor Foster blinked owlishly up at her. “That’s… you’re one of my Platonics!”

Darcy handed her the dinosaur and rolled up her sleeve, showing her probably!Platonic Soulmate the words written there.

Doctor Foster furrowed her brow. “What…? I’ve never heard of a Soulmark being two different colors, and that isn’t my handwriting.” She poked the letters, and they flickered. Her eyebrows shot up, and she laid her finger more firmly on the writing. When she did so, a ghost of gold, unfamiliar writing superimposed itself over the silver letters. “Interesting.”

Darcy squinted. “Does that…? What does that even say?”

Doctor Foster scowled. “My handwriting’s not _that_ bad.” When Darcy continued to stare at her, she rolled her eyes. “It’s the same words—my first to you.”

“Oh…” Darcy said, finally comprehending. “Wait, so does that mean my Romantic Soulmate is going to say the same thing?”

Doctor Foster shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine, but that seems like a reasonable hypothesis. But it might not _just_ be your Romantic.”

Darcy blinked. “You mean…”

She nodded. “With only one Soulmark, there’s no way of telling how many Platonics you might have.”

Darcy let her head fall back and groaned. “And they’re _all_ going to say the same thing.”

Doctor Foster smirked and waggled the dinosaur at her. “Well, if you insist on carrying your ‘best friend’ everywhere, is it really that surprising?”

Darcy shrugged. “Yes. I mean, yeah, I get that a lot—there’s a website, actually, ‘Darcy Lewis: Dino Lady,’ I’m _so_ proud—but… if everyone said ‘why are you holding an inflatable dinosaur?’ when they met me, I’d have to stop giving them to the people who do.”

Doctor Foster shot a surprised look at the dinosaur in her hand. “You mean…?”

“Charles the Dinosaur is yours.” Darcy blinked, then laughed. “Hey, I just realized—your name is Jane, and you ended up with Charles. Cool.”

She frowned for a moment, but then her expression cleared. “Pride and Prejudice?”

“Yep. I’m named after _that_ Darcy, so I try to name my dinos after Austen characters. Particularly P &P.”

She laughed. “I think we’re going to get along just fine. It’s nice to meet you, Darcy Lewis.”

She smiled. “Nice to meet you, too, Doctor Foster.”

“Darcy, we’re Soulmates. You can call me Jane.”

 

* * *

 

Jane was finally sleeping, so Darcy grabbed a blanket, a thermos of hot chocolate, and Emma the Dinosaur, and headed outside. She just needed to be… away, for a bit. It had, after all, been an… eventful day.

She found a view that didn’t remind her of the dangers she’d faced, but she couldn’t get away from the smell of smoke. Still, she tried to forget, just for a little while, that she could have died.

Or, if she couldn’t forget _that_ , to remember that she was still alive.

She hadn’t been sitting there for very long when someone entered her field of vision.

“Why are you holding an inflatable dinosaur?” a man asked.

“Because she’s going to help me find my Soulmate. Is it you?” she asked without looking at him.

He made an odd choking sound and started coughing; Darcy looked up at him, interested now.

“I, uh…” he said. “Yes? I mean, that’s one of my Platonic ‘Marks. Did I…”

Darcy nodded. “Yeah, you did. C’mere.”

“What?”

She rolled up her sleeve, and held up her arm so he could see her Soulmark. When he looked, he frowned. “That’s not my handwriting.”

“Poke it.”

“What?”

“Poke it!”

“Why?”

“If I’m right, it’ll be pretty obvious. Now _poke_.”

He poked her arm, but jerked back slightly when, as she’d (mostly) expected, it flashed gold. “What the…”

She held her arm further up, pushing it into his still-outstretched finger. This time, he didn’t jerk away, and they both stared at the place where, once again, the silver words on her arm were overlaid with clumsy gold writing.

“Is _that_ your handwriting?”

“Uh, yeah, it is. How…?”

“Same thing happened with Jane.” She paused and let her arm fall back onto her lap. “Basically, I have no idea how many Platonics I have, but you’re _all_ going to say the same thing to me. _All of you_. It’s a little ridiculous.”

He snorted and shook his head. “No kidding.”

She smiled a little. “So, Mr. Platonic Soulmate—”

“Clint Barton.”

“So, Clint. I’ve had a long day, and you look like you give good hugs.” She patted the ground beside her.

He huffed a laugh, but obligingly sat and wrapped an arm around her.

She leaned into him and plopped Emma on his lap.

“What…?”

“I always give my dinosaurs to people who say my Words, even when I don’t say theirs back. It’s sort of a tradition. This one is named Emma.”

“Emma? Like Emma Watson?”

“No, like Emma Woodhouse, the Austen heroine.”

He paused for a long moment, and when he spoke, there was an odd note in his voice. “The Gwyneth Paltrow one? With the bow and arrow?”

“That’s the one.”

He shook his head and stole her hot chocolate.

“Hey!”

“If you didn’t obviously not know, me, I’d swear you did that on purpose.”

“What?”

“I’m… somewhat well known for my fondness for medieval weaponry.”

She took a moment to process that, then started to laugh. She laughed until she cried, and then crying turned into sobbing because _she almost died,_ and _aliens,_ and _robots,_ and _Soulmate_ , and it was all just too, too much; she was just the intern, just Darcy, just a _nobody_ caught in the middle of gods, and aliens, and robots, and death, and _what was she even supposed to do with her life_? How was she supposed to go _back_ to coffee and tumblr and worrying about finals, and—

Clint pulled her into his lap, ran his hand up and down her back in a soothing, repetitive motion, and rocked her slightly. He felt awkward, she could tell, even through her hysterical tears, but he was there and letting her cry all over him and that was enough.

He held her until she drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: Jane's text notification is based on my own, which is a recording of me saying, "Hey [rl name], someone's sending you a text message. So you should look at your phone."
> 
> You might (or might not) have noticed that this is a multi-chapter fic :) It is, more importantly, a complete multi-chapter fic; Chapter Two will be up next week.
> 
> If you've got any ideas you'd like to see, please, leave them in the comments! We love getting prompts! :)
> 
> * * *
> 
> Okay, feel free to ignore this next thing because it is not even slightly related to the fic. This is a request, to any authors who like/are comfortable writing Deadpool. Because I have a new BroTP, which is a problem because APPARENTLY NO ONE ELSE HAS THOUGHT OF THIS AND THERE ARE NO FICS AND I NEED IT.
> 
> I need Wade Wilson and Luna Lovegood being BFFs.
> 
> I need Wade breaking the fourth wall (like he does) and Luna hearing the author. I need the Marvel and HP casts simultaneously saying "Oh, Thor/Merlin, _there's two of them."_
> 
> I need Luna trying to teach Wade to paint, only he's terrible at it, so they try finger painting and it turns into them smearing paint all over each other and giggling.
> 
> I need Wade introducing Luna to chimichangas. I need him teaching her how to use katanas. I need him adopting her as a little sister.
> 
> I need Luna making a butterbeer cork necklace for Wade. I need her telling him about all the animals no one else can see. I need her scolding him when he gets hurt, and looking up to him as a big brother.
> 
> I _need_ this BroTP.
> 
> I will probably try to write it—but this is a thing that needs to exist. _And it doesn't._


	2. Georgiana (and Wickham)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘Mostly awake’ wasn’t really awake enough to respond with poise when she found an elegant redhead leaning against the counter, casually sharpening one of the secondhand knives Darcy had picked up at a thrift store.

Darcy was dreaming when Clint shook her awake, which probably explained why she sat up, whacked him over the head with Georgiana the Dinosaur, and half-yelled, “No! Havarti is _sacred_!”

Since this was normal Darcy behavior (she’d done it the last six times he’d tried to wake her up, though the cheese she was defending always varied), he just grinned and threw her covers off her.

“What?” She blinked, woke up enough to figure out what was going on, and sank back onto her pillows with a groan. “No! Clint…” she whined. “‘m _sleepy_.”

“Come on, there’s someone you have to meet.”

Darcy grumbled, but allowed him to pull her into a mostly-vertical position. He dragged her out of her room, and by the time they reached the kitchen, she was mostly awake.

‘Mostly awake’ wasn’t really awake enough to respond with poise when she found an elegant redhead leaning against the counter, casually sharpening one of the secondhand knives Darcy had picked up at a thrift store.

Darcy squeaked and jumped behind Clint, instinctively bringing her hands up, as if to ward off blows. Clint, the traitor, chuckled and stepped to the side before pushing her towards the amused-looking woman.

“Why are you holding an inflatable dinosaur?” the woman asked as she set the knife on the counter and tucked the whetstone into a pouch on her belt.

Darcy glanced down at her hands and blushed. Slightly. "Her name is Georgiana and I bring her with me everywhere I go."

The other woman smiled and raised an eyebrow. “Your name is Darcy, correct? And you named it Georgiana?”

She grinned. “Well, I had another one called Wickham but he turned out to be a lying jerkface, so I don’t talk to him anymore.”

“Did you really?” Clint asked, sounding interested.

“Well, sort of? It’s… okay, story time. I spent the summer after I turned twelve watching the BBC version of Pride & Prejudice. Like, _all_ summer. I was kind of obsessed. I got a huge crush on Colin Firth, wrote some terrible fanfiction, but the important thing here is that I started using ‘Wickham’ and ‘Mr. Collins’ as insults.”

Clint either chose to ignore the more embarrassing parts of that story or was secretly a P&P fanboy, because he grinned and said, “Twelve-year-old you sounds awesome.”

“Psh. I’ve _always_ been awesome. But anyway, school started up again, and on the first day, this bully said my Words. She was being, y’know, a bully about it, all sneery and stuff, so I threw my dinosaur at her and called her a stupid Wickham. Of course, _that_ was when a teacher showed up. I knew I was going to get in trouble, so I said I was calling the _dinosaur_ a stupid Wickham. When I got my _next_ dinosaur, I told my friends it was more of a Jane than a Wickham, and… that’s how I started naming them.” She shook her head and offered the dinosaur to the other woman. “Well, you said my words, so Georgiana belongs to you, now. Take good care of my little dinosaur sister.”

“It’s not just me, then? We’re Soulmates?”

Darcy blinked. “You mean I said yours, too? Huh. I’m picking up Soulmates all over the place.” The woman had made no move to take the dinosaur, so Darcy set Georgiana on the table, started to hold out her arm, then paused. “Platonic, right?” She nodded, and Darcy more confidently offered her ‘Marked arm for inspection. “Time for a Platonic Poke-Test™, then.”

“A Platonic Poke-Test™?” She stepped closer, looked at Darcy’s Soulmark, and frowned. “That’s not…”

“Touch it,” Clint advised. She raised an eyebrow; he rolled his eyes, then did it himself. Just as before, the neat cursive was obscured under the gold of Clint’s awkward scribble.

She made a noise of surprise and came to stand next to Clint, examining the altered ‘Mark with interest.

Clint lowered his hand, and the woman stretched out a finger, but paused just before touching her. “May I?”

Darcy nodded. “Of course.”

When she touched the Soulmark, the familiar, silver cursive was once again overlaid with an unfamiliar, golden print; Darcy took a moment to admire the lacy script, then smiled widely at her newest Soulmate.

“Well, that makes it official,” she announced. “We are totally Soul Sisters.” She turned to look at Clint. _“This_ is why I _need_ my iPod. If I had my iPod, we could have an impromptu dance party.”

Clint grinned, reached into his pocket, and pulled out the oft-missed electronic device. “Oh, did I forget to mention that? I finally got Coulson to—”

She squealed and threw her arms around Clint. “Thankyouthankyouthankyou!” she babbled, then grabbed it and dashed for her room.

If they were going to have a dance party, she needed speakers and a better bra.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy big response, Batman! I hope this lived up to your expectations! (Then again, it's still Dino Lady!Darcy, so how could it not? :P)
> 
> Also, glad I was able to convert (some of?) you to my BroTP! :D LUNA & DEADPOOL FTW! 
> 
> Anyway. Thank you for all the comments, kudos, and bookmarks! If you've got any prompts, please leave them in the comments!


	3. Mrs. Reynolds, Mrs. Jennings, and Captain Wentworth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane sighed in exasperation. “She found a place that will let her order in bulk. At least two of our boxes are dedicated to her collection of ‘backup dinosaurs.’”
> 
> “So, when she says ‘a few’...”
> 
> “It’s more like ‘a few dozen.’”

The day Darcy moved into the newly-dubbed Avengers Tower was a memorable one, if only for the number of dinosaurs she distributed.

Their arrival was unremarkable. They walked into the lobby of the skyscraper, dragging their luggage behind them, and approached a receptionist for directions. She gave Mrs. Reynolds the Dinosaur (tucked, as ever, under Darcy’s arm) a disapproving look, but pointed them towards the elevators nonetheless. When they stepped into the elevator, a pleasant, male, British voice spoke. Given that she, Jane, and Mrs. Reynolds were alone, Darcy’s money was on it being a security-type-person.

“Doctor Foster, Mr. Stark has asked me to extend a welcome to you and—” He paused. When he spoke again, he sounded bemused. “Why are you holding an inflatable dinosaur?”

“I think the real question is, why _aren’t_ you?” she asked, and shot a grin at the security camera. “I mean, unless you are.”

“I am not,” British Dude said. “As an artificial intelligence with no corporeal form, I am incapable of holding anything.”

Her eyes went wide. “An AI? Seriously? Dude, I’m _totally_ claiming you as one of my Platonics. We’re going to be BFFs, and it’s going to be _awesome_.” She frowned slightly. “Makes it kind of hard to give Mrs. Reynolds to you, though,” she said, then shrugged. “Oh well. I’ll figure something out. Jane, hold Mrs. Reynolds.” She shoved the dinosaur into Jane’s arms, then pulled a box out of her purse. Opening the box revealed an uninflated dinosaur, which she removed and began to inflate. After a couple breaths, she paused. “Oh, what’s your name, by the way? I’m Darcy.”

“My name is JARVIS.” JARVIS sounded long-suffering, and Darcy grinned.

“Come on, J. You work with _Stark_. You’ve _got_ to know how to roll with the punches by now,” she said, and returned to inflating… hm… what should she name this one? Maybe Mrs. Jennings? She hadn’t had a Mrs. Jennings the Dinosaur in a while.

The doors slid open to reveal Tony Stark, who looked like he had been prepared to speak, but closed his mouth when he saw them. He frowned, glancing between her and Jane, and finally spoke to Darcy. “Why are you holding an inflatable dinosaur?”

“Because we’re awesome,” she said promptly. “But don’t worry; I’ve got enough awesome to go around.” She emptied her lungs into it one more time, stuck the plug in, and held it out to the billionaire. He grinned, but took a step back.

“I don’t like being handed things,” he said, then pulled up his shirt. She was on her way to being _really_ confused—because Tony Stark taking off his shirt had _not_ been part of her plans for the day—when she noticed the words written in gold across his stomach. “You’ll get used to it.”

She laughed incredulously, and he released his shirt. “Wow, was _not_ expecting that.” She shook her head, then nodded decisively. “Okay, no handing you things. Got it.” She took two steps forward and put the dinosaur on his head with a smirk. “There.”

Tony gave her a Look. She grinned, unrepentant. He rolled his eyes, but left it where it was, then snapped his fingers. “Well? Let’s see it.”

It took her a moment to figure out what he wanted to see, but once she did, she rolled up her sleeve. He frowned at the writing. “That’s not mine.”

Jane broke in. “You have to touch it. It’ll change to your handwriting then. See?” she said, and did a Platonic Poke-Test™ of her own. His eyebrows shot up.

“Huh. Okay, then,” he said, and hesitantly poked it. Just like the others, familiar silver all but disappeared under gold, and revealed that Tony Stark wrote in all caps.

“Are you just constantly shouting in your head?”

He snorted. “No. That’s just how I write.” He pulled away, and Darcy retrieved another uninflated inflatable dinosaur from her purse. “Seriously? How many of those do you have?”

She shrugged. “A few.”

Jane sighed in exasperation. “She found a place that will let her order in bulk. At least two of our boxes are dedicated to her collection of ‘backup dinosaurs.’”

“So, when she says ‘a few’...”

“It’s more like ‘a few dozen.’”

 

* * *

 

Darcy didn’t have time to actually get _settled_ into her new apartment—not when Tony had already dangled a shiny new lab over Jane’s head—but she _did_ have time to admire the kitchen, gape at the bedroom, fall in love with the bed, goggle over the bathroom, and use it to freshen up a bit. By the time she left her apartment, she was feeling much more chipper, and she had decided to name her latest dinosaur Captain Wentworth. It had been about eight years since she’d used the name, after all.

JARVIS directed her to a communal kitchen, where she found Jane eating a sandwich. To Darcy’s surprise, Mrs. Reynolds was sitting on the table.

“You forgot this,” Jane said, gesturing to the inflatable dinosaur.

“Whoops. Thanks for bringing her along. Hey, JARVIS? Where do you want Mrs. Reynolds?”

He paused, then replied, “I believe she will be safest in your care.”

Darcy nodded. “I’ll set something up, some sort of display, so it’s definitely, obviously yours. Because she is.”

If he’d been human, Darcy was pretty sure he would have sighed. “Very well, Miss Lewis.”

She pouted. “Are you _sure_ you can’t call me Darcy?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Fine.”

Darcy stuck out her tongue, then glanced over at Jane, who was bouncing in her seat. “Go on ahead; I’ll be there as soon as I finish my sandwich.” Jane was out of the room before Darcy had finished talking. She shook her head and put Captain Wentworth next to Mrs. Reynolds.

 

* * *

 

Darcy stepped off the elevator, holding Captain Wentworth under her arm; Mrs. Reynolds had been tucked into her bag. The door to one of the labs slid open, and Tony stuck his head out. “Lewis! Get in here; I want to introduce you to someone.”

She rolled her eyes, but gamely followed him into the lab. Inside, she found a man with curly brown hair wearing a lab coat. “Darcy Lewis, Bruce Banner.”

He smiled at her, then noticed Captain Wentworth. He stared at the toy, frowning, then slowly said, “Why are you holding an inflatable dinosaur?”

Darcy smiled sweetly at him. “Protection,” she said. “He turns into a _real_ dinosaur when he’s angry.”

Bruce hid his face in his hands and groaned, shaking his head back and forth. “I should have known that _Tony_ would be the one to introduce us. Of _course_ he would already know and be friends with the person who would make that joke.”

“You ‘should have known…?’” Her eyebrows shot up. “Does that mean—? Are we Soulmates?”

He nodded without looking at her. “Platonics,” he said, his voice muffled by his hands.

“Cool!” she said. “That’s twice in one day! Well, thrice if we’re counting JARVIS, which we _totally_ are.”

“...the other one is Tony?”

“Yep!”

“So you’re not just friends; you’re _Soulmates_. Why does the universe hate me?”

Darcy patted his head and put Captain Wentworth on his lap. “I know my sheer awesomeness can be overpowering at first, but this is _actually_ a sign that the universe loves you. Not everyone gets to be Soulmates with Darcy Lewis: Dino Lady.”

Since she now had a hand free, she pulled Mrs. Reynolds out of her bag. She was turning to Tony, to ask him what _he_ thought she should do with JARVIS’s dinosaur, when _Pepper Potts_ walked into the room.

“Tony!” she greeted. “You said you needed… Bruce? What’s wrong?”

He raised his head. “Pepper, _there’s two of them_.”

“Two of…” She looked at Darcy and blinked. “Why are you holding an inflatable dinosaur?”

Tony laughed.

“That _does_ seem to be the question of the day,” Darcy said, and Pepper Potts’s eyes went wide. “This is Mrs. Reynolds, JARVIS’s dinosaur. I’m holding onto her for now, since he doesn’t have any arms.”

After a long moment, Pepper Potts let out a breath. “At least it’s not a _real_ dinosaur; I’ll admit, I was worried about that.”

For once, Darcy was shocked. “ _No way!_ Pepper Potts? You’ve got to be kidding me! _Please_ tell me you’re not joking!”

_Pepper Potts_ smiled at her. “I’m not. You’re the last of my Platonic Soulmates.”

“That is _so cool!”_

Tony pouted. “Lewis, you’re fangirling. You didn’t fangirl over me. Why are you fangirling over Pepper and not me?”

Darcy gave him a Look. _“You_ aren’t _Pepper Potts.”_

“No, but I’m Tony Stark. Iron Man.”

“Psh.” She waved this aside. “I tazed the Norse god of thunder. _You_ don’t impress me. But, _Pepper Potts…”_

Tony considered this for a moment, frowning, then nodded. “Good point. I approve. Carry on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pepper's dinosaur is named Elinor, but she calls it Chile. :D Also, let's take a moment to imagine and appreciate little Pepper Potts growing up with those words.
> 
> Tony's is named Mrs. Jennings because, as CatrinaSL said when we were brainstorming: "Mrs Jennings is like 'COME LIVE WITH ME IN MY TOWER I WILL HAVE YOU MARRIED BEFORE THE SEASON IS OUT'" After that, it couldn't be anyone else. :D
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! If you have anything you'd like to see, leave your prompt in the comments! :)


	4. Lizzy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How did you—” That was Tony.
> 
> “You can’t—” Sam.
> 
> “It’s not sa—” Bruce.
> 
> And loudest of all was Clint’s, “Darcy, NO!”

When Captain Rogers’ emergency beacon turned on, and immediately off again, JARVIS’s first thought was that the man had simply damaged some of the safeguards preventing accidental activation. It continued to flash on and off, however—sometimes quickly, but sometimes for slightly longer periods of time—and he soon realized that the Captain was attempting to send a message in Morse code. When he had finished sending his short message, he left the beacon on.

The message itself was slightly alarming: “CAPTURED W JBB BY H. NO CHAIR YET. SOS ASAP.”

 

* * *

 

All available Avengers were in on the call, but plucky Soulmates had not been invited. Luckily for Darcy, JARVIS was a Good Bro, which meant that, so long as she didn’t _say_ anything, she could listen as they made their plans.

Or rather, as they didn’t.

They started by tracking down and identifying Cap’s current location. They already had some information on it; as it turned out, the building was on the list of suspected Hydra holdings. They spent some time going over everything they knew, and then, finally, discussed (i.e. argued about) the fact that _none_ of the team’s members were close enough for a timely jailbreak. Hydra’s equipment would arrive first, and Sergeant Barnes would be forced back to his Winter Soldiery ways.

For the first time ever, Darcy broke in on their conversation. “I’ll go.”

There was silence as they registered the new voice. Then—

“How did you—” That was Tony.

“You can’t—” Sam.

“It’s not sa—” Bruce.

And loudest of all was Clint: “Darcy, NO!”

Only Natasha was silent. Given that the redhead was the one beating BAMF-ness into her on a regular basis, Darcy decided to take the silence as approval, which was all she needed to respond with a firm, “Darcy, yes.” The cacophony of objections started again, but Darcy wasn’t paying attention to them. “Nat?” she asked, because it was _possible_ that she’d misinterpreted the silence…

“I don’t like you going in without backup.”

“I don’t like it, either, but we don’t have much choice. I’m the only one close enough to do anything. You’re all hours away, and that’s… too far. It’ll be too late by the time you get here.”

“Mm. You have a point,” the Russian said thoughtfully. “All right. You’ll need to be very careful. Take the guards out one at a time, if you can’t avoid them altogether. _Don’t_ take on any groups; we haven’t gotten to—”

Tony was spluttering with outraged. “Natasha, are you telling me you _approve_ of this ludicrous idea? Of Darcy _risking her life?_ ”

“Given the situation? Yes.”

“Given the—”

“We don’t have time for this,” Darcy said before more squabbling could break out. “I’m going, and that’s that.” When they started to protest that that was _not_ that, she ended the call.

She went over everything she knew, figuring out what she would and would not need. Tracking down supplies took longer than she might have hoped, but she was still suited up and ready to go within thirty minutes. Her last stop was Tony’s lab. She could practically hear Sam’s “Darcy, NO,” but it didn’t stop her from taking one of the upgraded wing packs. On her way out of the lab, she spotted something. She hesitated for a moment, unsure—but, with a mental shrug, she decided that the situation could, potentially, call for Lizzy the Dinosaur. Better to be to have her and not need her than to need her and not have her, right?

Darcy pulled on the wings, clipped Lizzy to her belt, and headed for the roof.

 

* * *

 

Breaking into the base was both harder and easier than she thought it would be. It was harder because it was _real_. She was on her own, facing off against people who would genuinely try to kill her if her Sneaking Skillz weren’t good enough. It wasn’t training, it wasn’t a game, it wouldn’t stop if she called time-out.

It was easier because Hydra had _nothing_ on Natasha. The Black Widow had been training her for months, and Darcy had learned.

The facility’s defenses—both physical and digital—were laughable. The security had holes in it a mile wide, and the few guards they _did_ have were sloppy. It took her less than a minute to hack into their servers, and once she did? Maps, protocols, guard rotations… everything she needed to get Captain America and the former Winter Soldier out of their cells was right at her fingertips.

She didn’t even need to use Lizzy.

Within twenty minutes of entering the Hydra base, the men she’d come to rescue were free. Sergeant Barnes was silent walking out of his cell, but Captain Rogers took one look at Lizzy and said, “Why are you holding an inflatable dinosaur?”

“Lizzy is my partner in crime,” she said. “My sidekick, if you will. I always bring her with me when I’m breaking people out of Nazi hideouts.”

Steve Rogers blinked. “You’re my Soulmate.”

“Seriously? Huh! Well, you’ll have to do a Platonic Poke-Test™ once we get out of here.”

She turned towards the door, waving for the two super-soldiers to follow her, and didn’t see Steve’s puzzled frown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO. You might have noticed that the chapter thingy now says 4/5? (Or, if not that, the lack of a resolution in this chapter :D) Yeah, I did some tweaking, added a scene, and decided to split this chapter in two. There might also be an epilogue after that. (I mean, depending on how long the wrap-up is; it will either be a scene at the end of the next chapter, or an epilogue with its own chapter. I don't really know yet.)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed Darcy being awesome! If you've got any prompts you'd like to see, leave 'em in the comments :)
> 
> Also, you know, ALL of the hugs and thank yous to you guys. Even the lurkers :) It means so much to me to know that people read and enjoy my writing, that my stories make people _happy,_ and that, in my own, small, way, I'm making the world a brighter place. So just... thank you. _My_ world is brighter because of you.


	5. Elizabeth and Charlotte

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “...Oh. Um. Oops? Uh, can we… focus on the part where I _successfully_ rescued the princesses from the evil Nazis’ lair?”
> 
> The princesses in question looked amused, but Tony continued to mutter darkly as he landed what appeared to be one of his private jets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is: the conclusion to Darcy's Dinosaurs!

It wasn’t until after they had successfully escaped that Darcy realized they had a problem.

“What’s wrong?” Steve asked when she cursed.

“I flew here,” she explained. “I was so focused on getting here as fast as I could, I didn’t even think about how we would get back.” At the _extremely_ disapproving look she was getting, she scowled. _“You_ needed help, _I_ was the closest person, and my other Soulmates were too busy being overprotective to actually be helpful. I’m sorry I messed up on this part, but ‘secret agent’ isn’t actually part of my job description.”

The sound of an approaching aircraft reminded them all where they were. Steve looked from her to Barnes and back again, then said, “Right. Give the wings to Bucky; he can carry you, and I—”

“No way,” she said as she pulled off the wings. “I mean, you’re right, he should use the wings, but I’m staying with you.” She handed the pack to Barnes and wiggled her fingers at him in a parting wave.

“You—”

“Will slow him down. Also, I don’t trust a first-time flier to both carry me and keep us in the air.”

Steve looked like he wanted to argue, but Barnes shook his head. “She’s right, and you know it.”

He sighed. “Fine. Go, before that airplane—”

He was interrupted by a beeping sound, which was coming from one of the pouches on her belt. Darcy held up a finger, telling them to wait, and pulled out… the com she’d grabbed at the Tower and then promptly forgotten about. Whoops.

She stuck it in her ear and answered the call.

“Tell Buckaroo not to leave just yet,” Tony said. “Oh, and you may want to step back.”

“Tony? How did—is that one of _your_ jets I’m hearing? I thought you said you couldn’t get here before they sent that chair-thing!”

“We couldn’t. Neither could _you_. They’d have beaten you here by a good twenty minutes if we hadn’t asked the X-Men to stop them en route. Which you’d have _known_ about if you hadn’t interrupted before we actually started planning. Or if you hadn’t hung up. Or if you’d just _turned on your com_ before you left.”

“…Oh. Um. Oops? Uh, can we… focus on the part where I _successfully_ rescued the princesses from the evil Nazis’ lair?”

The princesses in question looked amused, but Tony continued to mutter darkly as he landed what appeared to be one of his private jets.

Upon boarding the jet, Darcy was confronted with an unhappy-looking Clint.

“I’m not happy with you,” he informed her.

“I know.”

“You went off without any backup, and you weren’t wearing your com.”

“I know.”

“We’re going to have a long talk about this later.”

She pulled him into a hug and squeezed. “I know.” He squeezed her back. After a moment, she spoke again. “Clint?”

“Yeah?”

_“Please_ tell me you brought normal clothes with you.”

He let out a laugh, released her, and jerked his thumb at a row of bags as Tony got his fancy plane back in the air. “What kind of Soulmate do you think I am?”

“Well, obviously you’re the awesome kind,” she said, then grabbed the bag meant for her and headed for the jet’s bathroom.

A few minutes later she returned, feeling more like herself in jeans and a sweater with Elizabeth the Dinosaur—Lizzy’s un-Starkified twin—tucked under her arm. (Seriously, Clint was the best Soulmate ever.) She plopped into the ridiculously comfortable seat next to a less-patriotic Steve, handed over Elizabeth without explanation, and smiled at her newest Soulmate. “So, you want to do that Platonic Poke-Test™ now?”

He frowned down at the dinosaur for a moment, then set it aside. “I’m… not sure I understand. Platonic…?”

“Platonic Poke-Test™,” she said with a nod, then rolled up her sleeve and showed him her unusual Soulmark. Steve and Barnes both leaned closer to look. _“All_ of my Soulmates have the same first Words. Apparently fate decided it would be more efficient to just give me one weird Soulmark, rather than a bunch of Soulmarks that all say—”

Barnes interrupted, one eyebrow raised as he incredulously read, “‘Why are you holding an inflatable dinosaur?’”

“Yupperdoodles,” she confirmed.

Barnes drew in a sharp breath, and one of his hands jumped to his ribs. “That’s…”

She put two and two together, and snorted. “No way! You do _not_ have ‘yupperdoodles’ written on you.”

“He does,” Steve informed her.

“I do,” the _Winter Soldier_ (well, the _former_ Winter Soldier) confirmed.

She grinned. “That is the best thing I’ve ever heard,” she said, then offered her arm to him. “Do you want to do the Platonic Poke-Test™ first?”

“What _is_ a Platonic Poke-Test™?”

“If you’re one of her Platonics, your writing will show up when you touch her Soulmark,” Clint chimed in. Darcy smiled back at the archer, and was surprised to find an intent look upon his face.

Clint had many looks that could be described as ‘intent’ or ‘anticipatory.’ There was ‘someone’s about to set off a prank.’ There was ‘someone’s about to say something stupid to Natasha.’

This particular look was his ‘I’ve got money riding on this’ face.

Darcy raised an eyebrow. He smirked and shook his head.

“Oh.” At the sound of his voice, Darcy turned her attention back to Barnes in time to see him glance at Steve, then reach out and lay one flesh-and-blood finger on her arm. As she’d expected, silver cursive was immediately obscured by the golden handwriting of her newest Platonic Soulmate.

“See? Platonic Poke-Test™. Okay, your turn now,” she said, offering her arm to Steve.

The look on his face was… odd. She wasn’t sure what it was, but he held her eyes as he reached out and laid his hand on her arm.

Her Soulmark didn’t change the way she expected it to. In fact, it barely changed at all; the only difference was that the golden outline around her Words had disappeared.

She frowned. “What? I don’t...”

Steve lifted one side of his shirt and twisted slightly, so she could see.

That was her handwriting, and those were the first words she’d said to him.

But they were written in silver.

She stared for a moment, not comprehending until… “Oh. Oh! So this is… You’re my… I mean, we’re, uh… Romantics?” She tore her eyes from the silver words and met his inscrutable gaze.

He nodded slightly and released his shirt. “I am. But, we don’t have to… I mean, if you don’t want—”

“If I don’t _want_ to be with you?” She laughed. “I mean, I don’t really know you yet, and that’s a super-important part of things, but if we’re going on pure attraction, then, yeah, I definitely _want.”_

He blushed, but relaxed. “Oh. Good,” he said, then smiled.

Darcy smiled back.

“Tony, you owe everyone money!” Clint called, interrupting their Moment.

Darcy blinked, shook her head slightly, and turned her attention to the archer, who was smirking triumphantly. “Clint? Why does Tony owe everyone money?”

He shrugged. “He was the only one dumb enough to bet that Cap _wasn’t_ your Romantic.”

“Wha—?”

“Darce, we’ve all _seen_ your ‘Mark. That’s his handwriting, and it's in silver. It wasn’t hard to put together.”

Darcy gaped at him. “Why didn’t you _tell_ me?”

He shrugged. “Natasha,” he explained.

Steve groaned. “She’s seen my ‘Mark.”

“I think she’s seen _everyone’s_ ‘Mark,” Barnes grumbled.

“Wait, what does it say?” Tony asked as he emerged from the cockpit.

“‘Lizzy is my partner in crime. My sidekick, if you will. I always bring her with me when I’m breaking people out of Nazi hideouts,’” Steve recited.

Darcy grinned, and Tony snorted. “Well, that explains a few things.”

“Like what?”

“Well, why Natasha trained you in more than defending yourself and escaping from kidnappers, for one. Why she asked me to make Lizzy, for another. But mostly it explains why she insisted that we let you break Capsicle out of a Nazi hideout.”

Darcy blinked. There wasn’t much she could say to that.

 

* * *

 

But there was, apparently, a _lot_ that Steve could say to that.

Darcy wasn’t sure if she was flattered that her Romantic Soulmate was willing to yell at the Black Widow on her behalf, or disappointed that her Romantic Soulmate was stupid enough to yell at the Black Widow.

Since she was not yet able to communicate via eyebrows and barely visible gestures, she took the more direct route. “Do you want me to dump water on his head, or have you got this?” she asked Natasha.

Steve started spluttering as if she _had_ dumped water on his head.

“She’s my teacher,” Darcy told him bluntly. “She knows what I can and can’t do; the only thing _you’ve_ really seen me do is open locked doors and sneak around. She’s also one of my Platonics—and, unlike you, we’ve known each other for a few years, so she has reasons other than ‘fate has declared it so’ to care about me.”

“Darcy,” Natasha said, a note of warning in her voice.

She shrugged, but backed down. “That’s a no on the water, then?”

The other woman smiled. “Yes, it’s a no.”

“Okay.” Darcy gave Natasha a hug, then walked around Steve and out of the room.

 

* * *

 

“Darcy, wait!”

It _was_ a super-soldier who had chased after her, but not the one she might have expected.

“What is it, B—uh. Hm. What do you want me to call you?”

He shrugged. “You can call me whatever you want, doll.”

She smiled. “Just don’t call you late to dinner?” He rolled his eyes, but said nothing. The smile turned into a smirk. “Okay. LTD it is. So, LTD, what did you want?”

He looked somewhere between amused and horrified. Apparently deciding that if he ignored the nickname, it would go away, he answered her question. “Just… don’t be too hard on Steve.”

She shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not going to _not_ call him out on his crap, but I’m not going to hold any grudges, either. Not my style.”

He nodded and relaxed. “Good. He needs someone like that.”

She laughed. “I think everyone does, really, but some people need it more than others.”

“Stark, for example.”

She grinned, and hooked her arm through his. “LTD, I think we’re going to get along just fine. Now, come on. I’ve got something for you.”

 

* * *

 

Darcy returned from her bedroom holding a new dinosaur. She was surprised to find that the number of super-soldiers in her apartment had doubled.

Well, ‘in’ might be an exaggeration; Steve was either hovering uncertainly or auditioning for the role of ‘door to the hall.’

“How many of those things do you _have?”_ he asked incredulously, gesturing with his own dinosaur.

She shrugged. “A few dozen, I think? I give them out to people who say my Words, so I like to keep spares. Yours is named ‘Elizabeth,’ by the way.” She turned her attention to his friend. ”This one’s for you. Her name is Charlotte.”

“Charlotte,” LTD echoed, his voice flat.

“Yupperdoodles,” she replied cheerfully.

“Elizabeth’s best friend.”

“That’s the one. But do us all a favor and hold out for someone better than Mr. Collins. You’re a strong, independent woman who don’t need no man.”

“Damn straight,” Sam called as he walked past her apartment towards his own.

“Wait… what?” Steve asked.

Darcy laughed. “Steve, you make a terrible door. Come in, sit down, and close the actual door behind you.”

“Oh, I was just—”

“Steve. Come in. Sit down. Close the door behind you.”

He smiled. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Call me ‘ma’am’ again and I’ll tase you.”

“Yes, dear.”

Darcy blushed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end! Hope you enjoyed! :) 
> 
> I think Bucky's Soulmark is my favorite of these. His or Pepper's. I just... can you imagine when he was the Winter Soldier? And some Hydra technician, trying to do maintenance to the arm, absolutely _terrified_ of him, but also trying really hard to ignore the "Yupperdoodles" that's written on his ribs. XD I amuse myself. (And you, too, hopefully!)
> 
> Anyway, thank you again for the kudos, comments, and bookmarks! If you've got any prompts, leave 'em in the comments! One or both of us will get to it eventually. :)


End file.
